Something More
by quirky-circus
Summary: Continuation of 'One Good Reason'. After an unexpected occurrence in both Sheldon and Penny's lives, they begin to undergo the small tribulations that will lead them to their future and to discovering that something more. Fluff, slightly OOC, Sheldon/Penny, established relationship.


A/N: I'm back! So a bit has happened in BBT since I last wrote something, but I got quite a bit of positive feedback on my last one-shot and a few reviewers asked for a continuation and I thought, why not. This can be read by itself, but it would be really really awesome if you checked out the first part, One Good Reason first, since it's a continuation from where we left off and this might make a tiny bit more sense. Please leave me some love once you've finished reading. Who knows, maybe this could be a trilogy with the right amount of loving...

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Something More

"Where do we go from here?"

She turned and looked at him beside her, face so startlingly close yet so unbearably far away. The air had become colder as they sat on the rooftop, but the desire to hold onto this moment was far too strong to retire back down to their apartments.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly.

"I find myself at a loss of - of what to do. It's obvious our relationship paradigm has altered but...but what exactly does that mean?"

She pondered the innocent question thoughtfully, puffing her cheeks whilst wondering how to answer, and then slowly exhaling.

"Well," she began. "I guess we do what we do best."

"What's that?"

"You be Sheldon and I'll be Penny. Nothing's really changed, sweetie, we'll still be Sheldon and Penny. Just now we'll be us...together."

He shook his head. "That really doesn't make sense."

"Hey, Brainiac, I thought you were the one that was meant to have all the answers," she teased, poking his side playfully.

He scowled and squatted her hand away, which just caused her to duck and scoop his hand gently, slowly and purposefully twining her fingers with his. Their joined hands rested comfortably on her knee as they both stared at the muddle of fingers.

"I'm unsure, Penny," he said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Unsure? About what?"

"About everything," he huffed. "My friendships are currently destroyed, my career is uncertain and now this altered paradigm with you. I don't know what to make of it."

"Oh, sweetie," she said gently. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, I'll understand."

The thought of ending it before it even really began broke her heart.

"But that's the most unsettling thing of it all," he replied, meeting her eyes until she could feel the undercurrent of electricity that ran between them. "Whatever this is between us...I'm unsure why this is so certain to me."

She didn't know how to answer that, really, how was she meant to reply to possibly the sweetest thing that had ever been said to her?

"I suppose if you think about it we were always a pretty certain thing," she said finally.

He gave her a questioning look.

"I mean," she started to explain. "It's always been you and me, ya know? Raj, Leonard and Howard have always been there but we have always been closer. Do you get me?"

He nodded. "Surprisingly, yes."

"Good," she sighed.

"What about you and Leonard, though? Surely you must know he has affection for you."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Affection, if you can really call it that. I just fee like he doesn't respect me. He just sees a pretty face in a short dress. He seems to worship me but, I don't want someone that will walk around on egg shells around me. I want a challenge. Before you guys left for The Arctic I thought I wanted him but... this thing he did to you just made up my mind. I don't want Leonard. I want you."

He swallowed almost reflexively as he absorbed her words, words that were so seeming foreign yet so surprisingly welcome all of a sudden. This really was moving so quick, and they ought to slow down, but suddenly everything seemed a little bit brighter to him and he didn't want that to go away.

"What do we tell them?" he asked finally.

"The truth," she replied. "This situation is already gonna be messy, let's not try and make it worse by lying to everyone."

"No one is going to be thrilled," he said evenly.

"Actually," Penny said playfully. "I think your Meemaw will be very happy."

He cracked a rare genuine smile and his eyes seemed to suddenly sparkle brighter than the stars above them.

"I think you may be correct," he said. "She was constantly badgering me about settling down with a female. But I always told her that physics would forever be my foremost priority."

He stared at her.

"I suppose I never factored you in."

"But now you have," she smiled.

"Yes," he murmured. "Now I have."

She drew him in for a kiss that was calmer and sweeter than their first, but with no less emotion or passion. They pulled apart and Penny rested her forehead against his, smiling into his eyes.

"We should go back inside," she said softly.

"Yes, we should."

They didn't move for another hour.

~

His foot tapped against the ground in a rhythm that only he was following. Fingers tapped against the arm of the couch until even that wasn't enough to evade the anxiousness inside him, forcing him to stand and walk to the kitchen and pour himself a glass of water.

Leonard glanced at his watch once more before taking another sip, this time swallowing the whole contents in three large gulps.

Sheldon had been missing for hours, and so had Penny. He gave up waiting for her after she had rushed into her apartment with Sheldon's Meemaw on the phone and now no one had seen the two for quite a while - he wasn't even sure they were together.

He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He felt guilty over what had happened to Sheldon, he wasn't heartless, but right now his worries laid with Penny. He had never seen her so angry at him, or anyone for that matter, that he figured he had managed to ruin something that was finally going good. He was convinced that absence would make her heart grow fonder and when he returned they would pursue a wonderful and carefree relationship filled with lots of hot sex. But that had all turned to shit after she discovered what they'd done to Sheldon. And rightly so, he supposed, because what they'd done was a pretty shitty thing to do. But when you're cooped up with an even more obsessive than usual Sheldon Cooper with absolutely no where to go for three months, the experience could only make you become crazy and force you to do extreme things. Like altering the results of a theory that your best friend had been working on for years and would more than likely result in them winning the coveted Nobel Prize. Really, no biggie at all. He sighed again. Who was he kidding, of course it was a big deal. He could understand an enemy doing that to him, but never the people who he thought were his closest friends.

He had to find him. He had to find him and apologise and hopefully find Penny as well and grovel until she forgave him and they could have really, really good make up sex.

He grabbed his keys and jogged towards the door, stepping out into the hallway between his and Penny's apartment - and was immediately met with the very two people he was looking for, standing outside Penny's apartment. And also standing abnormally close. Looking very guilty and slightly afraid. And, ultimately, two people that were holding hands.

The three stared at each other in silence, the tension of unsaid words hanging heavily in the air. Leonard cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Hi," he began hesitantly.

Sheldons gaze dropped to the floor as Penny's face hardened determinedly.

"Hello, Leonard." She said. He didn't know whether this was a good or bad beginning.

"I see you found him," Leonard said quietly, motioning to Sheldon.

"Yes, I did," she said softly.

"That's great," Leonard said earnestly. "I-I wasn't sure if you had, I was just gonna, ya know, see if I could find you both and see if everything's okay."

"Everything's fine. Sheldons feeling much better now."

"Well I'm glad to hear that. M-Maybe we could all talk for a minute and-"

"Actually, Leonard," Penny interrupted forcefully. "Sheldon and I were just about to get some rest. It's been a long day, I'm sure you would agree."

"Right," said Leonard slowly. "You're completely right, that's fine. "

"Sheldon? Why don't you go into your room and grab your stuff while I clean up." Penny said.

He nodded gently as Penny smiled at him warmly. She gave one last hard glance to Leonard before unlocking the door to apartment 4B. She was halfway through the door when Leonard saw Sheldon, in a move that was completely unlike him, gently grasp her arm and pull her back. He seemed to stare at her face for a few short moments before leaning down and kissing her softly on the cheek, his lips lingering for a long time.

Leonard was sure his jaw dropped comically, but it fell even further when Penny merely smiled in response. She brought a hand to his face to touch his cheek.

"I'll see you in a minute, Moonpie."

The door to her apartment slammed shut before Leonard could get a another word in.

He stared at the closed door, dumbfounded at the unexpected turn of events.

"I don't have my keys," Sheldon exclaimed suddenly, the first words he had spoken. "Can you please let me in?"

Leonard's mind seemed to kick into autopilot as he nodded dumbly, scrambling through his pockets to find the keys. He fumbled his way through turning the lock and trudged into the apartment, Sheldon slipping past him quickly and striding briskly into his room.

Leonard sank onto the couch, the blank expression still marring his features. What the heck had just happened? Did he really see Sheldon Cooper initiate lip-to-skin contact with the attractive neighbour Leonard had been in love with since the moment he first laid eyes upon her? And did she really smile at him as a response? Did he really see that romantic attraction between them just then? No, that couldn't of possibly happened. They were just friends, and Sheldon was expressing his gratitude for her helping him out. With his lips. Yeah, that must be it, friends give other friends kiss on the cheeks all the time. He repeated this in his head over and over, even though his heart was telling him something different.

"I'm finished."

His head whipped to the side as Sheldon made his presence known, a duffel bag hanging over his shoulder.

"Penny has offered to let me stay at her place until this...mess is all resolved."

"Sure," Leonard replied numbly.

"I'll trust you'll keep the place in good condition. Goodbye for now, Leonard."

Leonard watched as Sheldon left the apartment, the slam reverberating around the suddenly emptier room. He had actually left, and to bunk with Penny, no less. Wait a minute...

He raced off the couch and ran to the door, peering through the tiny peephole eagerly.

He saw apartment 4B's door swing open and Penny delicately reach up to her tippy toes and give Sheldon a hug that he returned with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. Alright, everything was perfectly innocent. But then she pulled back and placed a firm kiss on his lips, acting as though they had definitely done it before. Leonard reeled back as though he had just been punched in the gut, leaning against the door with wild eyes. Sheldon knew how much he loved Penny. And yet he had just willingly kissed her.

In that moment, Leonard knew exactly what Sheldon had been going through lately. He knew exactly how it felt to be betrayed.

~

Sheldon let himself be pulled into the apartment by the blonde. She took his bag and placed it on the ground, grabbing both his hands and leading him to the couch, pulling him down with her until their knees were touching, hands still clasped.

Concern filled her kind eyes, and Sheldon found himself becoming quite lost in them as she continued to stare into his own.

"You feeling okay, sweetie?" She asked.

"Yes, I am. Although I don't know a lot about social interactions, that could've have been more awkward."

"You got that right," she sighed. "But what was that little move you pulled back there?" She grinned.

"Why, Penny, I do not know what you are talking about."

"Liar," she shot back. "Kissing me on the cheek in front of him? Didn't know you had it in you."

"He had to find out some time," he shrugged. "I have never mollycoddled anyone before, and I certainly won't start now."

Her lips twitched as she fought back a smile. "It had nothing to do with a little revenge?"

"I am neither confirming nor denying that statement."

She giggled and slid down on the couch, boldly leaning into his shoulder and tucking her head into his neck. He froze at first, but no, this was nothing compared to the kisses they had shared, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and relaxed into the embrace with a surprising amount of ease.

"Everything will be okay, won't it, Sheldon? You and the guys will work it out eventually and everything will go back to normal. Except, well, better. Because we have each other now."

He tipped his head down to look at the mess of blond hair below him, stroking the soft skin of her arm idly. He jerked his head quickly before he could change his mind and placed a quick kiss on the crown of her head. As she snuggled closer, he knew it was all definitely worth it.

"Yes, Penny. Everything will be just fine."


End file.
